Taco1, a Popular Mexican2 Dishin the U.S. 塔可饼，风靡美国的墨西哥美食

陈思羽选译

The taco is a traditional3 Mexican dish. It is a tortilla4 with some filling5， such as beef， chicken， and vegetables. A tortilla is a Mexican pancake6 made with corn. You only need to fold7 the tortilla around the filling and your taco is done. The taco is as big as our hands， so people can hold tacos by hand and eat them. The word taco is the Mexican way of saying “sandwich”.

Last year， Americans ate over 4.5 billion8 tacos！Sounds crazy， right？ Now， tacos are one of the most popular foods in the United States.

Americans have “Taco Tuesday.” On Tuesdays， many Americans go out to have delicious tacos. In many American big cities， restaurants often sell food at lower prices on Tuesdays， for example， “$1 fish tacos every Tuesday night”.

There is a holiday for tacos named “National Taco Day” in America. National Taco Day takes place in the United States on October 4th. On this day， Americans will make and eat tacos. Some even join in fun taco parties， for example， dressing their pet dogs like tacos.

Americans can enjoy tacos almost everywhere all year long： You can find tacos on the streets， in restaurants， in the parks， and in many other places. Tacos have become a part of Americans life. Then how did tacos get popular in America？

Tacos came to the U.S. in the early 1900s with the Mexican migrants9， but it is the fast-food chain10 Taco Bell that made tacos a well-known name. In the 1950s， Glen Bell started selling tacos on the streets. He put traditional American food like beef and cheese11 in the tortilla. In 1962， Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell. As more and more Taco Bells opened， more and more Americans loved tacos. In 2017， Taco Bell had more than 7，000 restaurants around the world.

Americans love tacos because tacos are delicious， easy to eat， and more importantly， have many possibilities12. You can fill the tortilla with any food you like. Try to make your own taco！

塔可饼是一种墨西哥传统美食，由墨西哥薄饼加上牛肉、鸡肉、蔬菜等馅料做的。墨西哥薄饼是用玉米面做的。只需要将墨西哥薄饼对折，包住馅料，塔可饼就做好了。通常塔可饼和我们的手掌一般大小，人们可以用手拿着吃。“塔克”这个词就是墨西哥用来描述三明治的。

去年，美国人吃了45亿多个塔可饼！听起来不可思议，对吧？现在，塔可饼是美国最受欢迎的食物之一。

美国人有“塔克饼周二”。每逢周二， 许多美国人会出门品尝美味的塔可饼。在很多美国大城市，餐厅常常在周二提供特价。例如，“每周二晚鱼肉塔可饼售价1美元”。

在美国，塔可饼还有个专门的节日——“全国塔克节”。每年的10月4日是美国的全国塔克节。在这天，美国人会制作品尝塔可饼。有的人还会参与有趣的塔可饼派对，比如，把他们的宠物狗打扮成塔克饼的样子。

美国人几乎可以随时随地吃到塔可饼：在街头、餐厅、公园以及许多其他地方，你都能找到塔可饼。塔可饼已经成为美国人日常生活的一部分。那么，塔可饼是怎么在美国流行起来的呢？

20世纪初，塔可饼随着墨西哥移民一起来到美国，然而是快餐连锁店“塔克钟”才让塔可饼成为了家喻户晓的美食。20世纪50年代，格伦·贝尔开始在街上售卖塔可饼。他在墨西哥薄饼中放入牛肉、奶酪等传统美国食物。1962年，格伦·贝尔开了第一家塔可钟餐厅。随着越来多的塔可钟餐厅开张，越来越多的美国人爱上了塔克饼。2017年，塔可钟在全球已有7000多家门店。

美国人喜欢塔可饼，因为塔可饼美味，吃起来方便，而且更重要的是，拥有许多可能性。你可以在墨西哥薄饼中加入任何你喜欢的食物。试着做一个你自己的塔可饼吧！

（英语原文选自：mexicali-blue.comrecipes.howstuffworks.com）

【Notes】

1. taco  n. 塔可饼，墨西哥玉米薄卷饼

2. Mexican  adj. 墨西哥的，墨西哥人的;n. 墨西哥人

3. traditional  adj. 傳统的;惯例的

4. tortilla  n. 墨西哥玉米薄饼

5. filling  n. 填充;填料

6. pancake  n. 薄烤饼

7. fold  v. 对折

8. billion  num. 十亿

9. migrant  n. 移民

10. chain  n. 连锁店

11. cheese  n. [食品] 奶酪;干酪

12. possibility  n. 可能性